Once Upon a Malfoy Story
by VieraSky
Summary: A role play that my friend and I decided to turn into a story. It's about love, loss and a lot of strange goings on  even for the world of Harry Potter . Hope you enjoy!
1. A New Year

"Wow...it's beautiful," I exclaimed as my eyes landed on the Hogwarts Express. Even though I'd seen it many times before this, the sight never ceased to take my breath away and leave me speachless.

"Kilala I swear, if you get into any trouble this year, any news from the headmaster, I'm expelling you myself and making you do something useful for once, " Stella, my step mom, griped at me. I never listened anymore, considering that I got these warnings every year from her and I have done the worst things possible and haven't nearly come close to being expelled.

"Yes ma'am," was all I said, not even sure if it was too late to reply. Just then I spotted the people I'd been looking for: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and the Weasley's. God how I loved Harry's gorgious green eyes. "Oy, Potter!" I said, making my way over to him and embracing him in a tight hug.

"Sheesh you've been growing. If you get any taller then you will be taller than me," he said.

"Well hello to you to," I replied, "and be quiet, you sound like my greant aunt Vicky." Ok so who says I can't be friends with Gryffindors if you're a Slytherin? Well pretty much everyone which is why I like to keep it more of a secret. I would literally be banned from from the Slytherin house if anyone knew, though oddly enough they didn't mind me dating George. I didn't even want to think of the consequences of dating Harry. That would truely be a nightmare. They'd probably kill me.

"Helloooo?" George came over, effectively stopping all of my thoughts. "Are we going to Hogwarts or back home, cause the train is leaving," he said. All of us looked around, and sure enough, the train was moving and people were waving goodbye to parents.

"Now keep your remembral on you at all times dear," came Neville Longbottoms grans voice.

"Oh shit!" I squeaked, grabbing my stuff and taking Georges hand. We ran towards the moving train just as it was about to go around the corner. "Jump!" I told him in a rush. With that, I threw my stuff in and George and I jumped on at the same time and landed right when the doors closed. I breathed in a sigh of relief and headed toward the compartment I've been sitting in for five years now, the one I'd met George in. Once I shut the door and we put our luggage on the top racks, George and I both burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" came Lee Jordan's voice. Neither George or I could answer, because we were both laughing so hard and had tears running down our faces. It was the best feeling and was completely unexplanable. George and I often had times like these where we shared a moment. And it felt so right and so great because nobody else could understand.

Half the ride had passed and Fred and George were probably on their tenth game of Exploding Snap, when I decided that it was a good time to go and get changed into my robes. "Hey guys I'm going to change and check in with my Slytherin hoes so they aren't worried that I'm being raped by somebody other than themselves." They both nodded in unison, so I grabbed my stuff and headed towards the changing rooms. Luckily there wasn't a line so I was able to change in peace. I stepped into the stall marked number 11 and locked the door behind me. I changed out of my red and black knee length checkered skirt, fishnets, 3 inch heels, and black shirt which said "Conserve water, shower together" in red writing, and into my black and green Slytherin uniform. Quickly, I stuffed my other clothes into a bag and put my wand, which contained a single thread of Unicorn tail, into my pocket. I left the changing rooms and headed to Flint's compartment.

"Whooee baby you're fiesty!" came his voice. I wrinkled my nose and sort of gagged. I didn't even want to know what was going on in there, so I decided to go to where Harry was sitting, knowing that he was probably alone since Ron and Hermione had been chosen to be prefects this year.

"Hiya Harry," I said as I entered the compartment.

"Hey," he said. He was seated by the window with his nose buried in a rather large brown book. Stealing a quick glance at the title, I giggled when I saw the words, 'Girls: Hand grenades or beautiful butterfly's? How to understand them' in flowing golden script across the front.

"You're not still stuck on Cho are you?" I asked him.

"Huh?" he said, looking up at me. I nodded at the book and raised an eyebrow. "Oh..hehe..yeah..that..Fred lent it to me. He wrote it over the summer."

I sat down across from him and stared out the window. The rest of the ride passed in silence, as Harry and I didn't have much to say. By the time we got to Hogsmeade it was dark, as usual. I grabbed my stuff from where I'd left it in the compartment with Fred and George, and headed off the train.

"Firss years over here now!" came Hagrid's voice. I went to the first carriage I saw, and spotted Luna Lovegood inside. I climbed in and sat down across from her. She was, not surprisingly, reading 'The Quibbler' upside down. She briefly looked up at me and smiled, which I returned, but neither of us said anything. At last, we arrived at the castle and got settled into the Great Hall, listening half heartedly as the sorting took place. Anna McCrey got into Hufflepuff and Sarah Pilkington got into Gryyfindor. I didn't hear the rest because I fell asleep. I was awoken some time later when Dumbledore was just beginning his beginning of the year speech.

"Welcome new faces," he said, "and for those of you who aren't new welcome back. May I remind you that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students. There is also a list of things that are now banned from Hogwarts which can be seen in Filch's office. Now for the feast!" And with that food appeared. I began to pile Turkish Delight onto my plate and ate every bit of it without any regrets. Once the dessert session was over, I headed down to the dungeons.

"Kill Filch," I said and the stone gargoyle jumped to the side. A whole bunch of people were already crowded around here and there in small groups. I stopped and looked around for a moment. It seemed that Luna had a fan. I couldn't see the girl's face, but as far as I could tell she was reading 'Quidditch Daily' upside down. I smiled and went upstairs to find my trunk at the base of my bed. I grabbed some pajamas out of it and went into the bathroom to change, comb my hair and brush my teeth; I would shower in the morning. I went back to my trunk and got out my music player and put on the muggle band called Evanescence, crawled under the covers and went to sleep.


	2. A Nasty Trick of Snape's

I woke up early the next day, and decided to get ready before that pug-faced Pansy could hog all the hot water. That's one thing that I never missed about Hogwarts.

I got in the shower and started to shave. My leg and armpit hair had gotten rather long, because Stella didn't believe in muggle traditions. Though I did shave whenever I was able to, it wasn't as often as I'd have liked. That's one thing I always missed about Hogwarts; the ability to shave freely. After I finished, I washed my hair and enjoyed some me time under the nice hot water. Once I was out and dressed, I brushed my hair and teeth and applied my makeup. After that, I headed down for breakfast in the Great Hall.

Right when I sat down, ready to dish me up some scrambled eggs and toast, Snape appeared with my schedule. He didn't look directly at me, nor did he say anything, so I looked over my piece of parchment quietly. I had potions first, transfiguration second, history of magic third and defense against the dark arts last. I hated all of them.

Potions, as it turned out, was with the Gryffindors. Snape had already created a seating chart, so I didn't have to worry about having nowhere to sit. Now I just had to worry about who he had sat me next to. I mentally crossed my fingers that it wasn't Pansy or Millicent. Of coarse, as was expected, Harry and Draco were paired together, Hermione with Millicent (in my head I did a fist punch to the air that was accompanied with a loud 'YES!'), Ron with Pansy (another fist punch) which left me with Flint, which was just fine with me.

"We will be starting from where we left off last year," Snape began. "You are to make another Polyjuice potion. However, you are to make it in a different way than you made it last time." I glanced in Hermione's direction, and could see her barely concealed annoyance with the professor. I coughed to hide a giggle, and returned my attention back to Snape. "You have one hour." When hehad finished speaking, directions appeared on the board at the front of the room.

Wordlessly, I got up from my seat and went to get supplies from the supply cupboard. I returned a short while later, with my arms filled with the things I would need to complete the assignment. Half an hour later, I was done. I was checking the board for further instructions, when a loud explosion rocked the room, sending goop flying every which way, some of it landing on my face. I made a face and whipped my eyes to see what had happened. The whole class was covered in what seemed to be a greenish-purplish bubbling sludge.

"Scourgify!" Snape said, and at once the class was clean. "That will be a zero for today, Mr Weasly."

Ron. Of coarse it was Ron. I really should have expected something like this to happen, and I wasn't quite sure why I hadn't. He could never finish his potions without Hermione's help. I looked from Ron to Hermione to Snape, and figure that he knew this and that was why he'd separated the two this year.

Suddenly, the room was rocked by yet another explosion. Someone else's potion had exploded. "Take cover!" someone shouted, but it was too late. Everyone's potions had started to explode, sending the room into utter chaos. Pansy was screaming so loud, I was surprised that even the magical windows of Hogwarts didn't crack. Crabbe and Goyle were under one of the desks and were tripping the Gryffindors. People were slipping forwards and backwards and helplessly holding onto one another for support.

"Look out!" someone yelled, and I turned my head expecting to see more goop flying my way. Instead, I saw a flying cauldron and my eyes went wide. I surely would have been hit had it not been for Harry, who had somehow ended up on the floor beside me. He grabbed my hands and pulled me down just in the nick of time. "Thanks," I breathed. The pandemonium continued for about 30 seconds, and then bubbled down to a tamer level. Slowly, I stood and looked around the room. Cauldrons were everywhere, parchment stuck to walls and people, books were completely covered in ooze and were completely ruined, desks were overturned…it was a nightmare.

"Nobody leaves this classroom until Mr Weasly cleans up the mess that he's made. This is what happens to people too careless to read the directions. Ten points from Gryffindor. And if I see anyone trying to help Mr Weasly put everything back in order, then everyone will get a weeks worth of detentions." Snape growled, and I honestly couldn't tell if he was amused or angry.

Everyone groaned. The Slytherins groaned because Ron wasn't allowed to use magic and would take forever in cleaning up. The Gryffindors groaned because it was the first class of the year and they were already losing points. Of coarse, some people didn't care and were just laughing. I wasn't. Poor Ron couldn't do this alone. He was bright orange.

"That was a nasty trick of Snape's," Hermione was saying to me after class. "He knew that Ron would mess up, and just to make sure he changed the board. That last thing wasn't on there when it first went up. I seriously don't understand that man."

"Neither do I," I replied, not really listening. "But I have to get to Transfiguration. See you later Hermes." I turned a corner and headed off towards the Transfiguration room.

The rest of the day passed in a boring blur until I got to History of Magic. As I entered the classroom, I noticed that it was only the Slytherins in this class. I shrugged and took my seat, not really bothering to see who I was sitting next to. It wasn't until about 30 minutes later that I looked over, and my head all but exploded when I saw who it was. "Milala?"

The girl sitting next to me looked up from her notes to see who had said her name. When her eyes made contact with mine, I heard her gasp and saw her drop her pencil. "Kilala?" she said in an awed whisper. She quickly leaned closer and wrapped her arms around you in a tight hug. "I thought I'd never see you again." She whispered.

I pulled out of the hug and looked at her. "What are you doing here? I thought you went to Durmstrang with all those strapping young men." Milala blushed and gave me a devious look. Then she laughed and shook her head.

"I was, but there were some…umm…shall we say 'incidents' and my well-to-do dad sent me here instead. So voila!" Milala smiled at me and used the end of her quill to tickle my nose.

I pushed her feather away and sneazed. "It's great to see you again, sis. Rea-"

"Ms Taylor and Ms Gozzler, if you don't mind I'm trying to teach. Taylor, would you please switch places with Mr Flint," Professor Binns interrupted. Milala grinned at you, and you rolled your eyes but smiled back.

"We're talking more about this later, missy," I said, as I picked up my stuff and made my way over to the second to the front row where Draco was sitting. I didn't look at him as I sat down, still in a state of shock that Milala, my sister, my twin was now at Hogwarts.

"You know…" mumbled Draco, snapping me out at my thoughts, "that girl looks like you." I turned to him and rolled my eyes before mouthing 'really?' at him. Either he didn't get my sarcasm or he was ignoring it because he just nodded pleasantly at me.

Noticing that Professor Binns had turned his back to the class and was scribbling notes across the board and jabbering on about the Salem Witch Trials, I took the opportunity to glance behind me at my sister. I thought that maybe my eyes were deceiving me, because it looked like they were flirting. I blinked and rubbed my eyes but it was still happening. They WERE flirting!

"Ms Taylor! How many times do I have to tell you to pay attention!" I jumped at the sound of Professor Binns' haunting voice. Milala looked up at me and half-smiled half-laughed. I scowled before turning around and sitting back down in my seat. I felt someone's eyes on me, but when I turned to look at Draco, his eyes were firmly on his parchment.

"Now, may I continue?" asked the irritated Professor Binns, tapping his ghostly foot.

"Yes sir," I said quietly. Milala sure had a lot of explaining to do.


	3. Better Than Spoons

"You have a LOT of explaining to do, missy," I said as I sat down at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall for lunch. Milala smiled guiltily at me, as she reached for a pumpkin pasty. They were meant to be for desert, but as I'd learned from the previous year when Durmstrang had visited for the Triwizard tournament, Milala shared my preference for eating desert before the main meal. "So explain," I said, reaching for a pumpkin pasty of my own.

"What's to explain? I went to Durmstrang, and now I go here. End of story," she said before biting into the yummy desert in her hand.

I rolled my eyes. "That doesn't even BEGIN to cover what I want to know." I took and swallowed a bite of pumpkin pasty before continuing. "Why are you here? Why were you so chummy chum with Flint? Why didn't you tell me you were coming here? And most of all WHY were you going to an all boys wizarding school?"

Milala laughed, and scratched the back of her head. "Well, I'm here…cuz…well…I am. I'm so chummy chum with Flint because he's my boyfriend. I didn't tell you I was coming because I wanted it to be a surprise and I was going to an all boys wizarding school because they are SO totally more orgasmic than an electric toothbrush," she concluded, causing me to spew the mouthful of pumpkin juice I'd just taken all over a couple of first years, who glared at me before stalking away.

"What?" I asked, laughing like an idiot. "Wow, Milala," I said after I'd quieted myself down to just an occasional giggle, wiping the tears from my eyes.

My sister smiled. "There are certain perks to being the only girl in a school full of sex-deprived males you know."

I smiled back. "Better than spoons?" I asked.

"Better than spoons." She affirmed.

I took another bite of my pumpkin pasty. 'I wish I would've found out about her years ago,' I thought to myself. I'd just finished my pasty and was licking my fingers when I turned back to Milala. "So how does Flint fit into the mix of 'sex-deprived-males?'" She didn't reply immediately, but her cheeks had begun to redden, and she looked down at her hands with a silly grin plastered on her face. "Aww how sweet! My sister's in love!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around her. "They grow up so fast." I pretended to whipe away a tear. "Why it seems like just a year ago that you walked through those doors and into my life for the first ti-"

"It was last year," she interrupted, playfully shoving me.

I smiled and looked up as something pink was sent flying over the Hufflepuff table. I couldn't tell what it was, but it looked like it belonged in a muggle children's show. Milala got a sort of funny look on her face and followed my line of sight. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

I shook my head and looked away, covering her eyes as I did so. "Don't look…it's too stupid." Milala shrugged and took a sip of her pumpkin juice. Suddenly, she slammed her hands onto the table and shot up like a rocket.

"SHIT!" she exclaimed and turned to me. "Sorry sis, but I promised Flint I'd meet him before next class."

I chuckled and waved her off. "Go on. Have some fun." She smiled at me before rushing off down the aisle between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables, bowling over a group of second years as she went. "I'll catch up with you later!" she called to me over her shoulder, before disappearing out the double doors.

"What do you have next?" I could hear some excited first years exchanging their schedules as I sipped at my pumpkin juice. I smiled with my lips pressed against my goblet, remembering my first days as a Hogwarts student. It was funny, it had only been a few years ago, but a lot of my memories from back then were fuzzy. Oh sure, I remembered the big stuff like my first ride on the Hogwarts Express and my first glimpse of Hogwarts Castle. And heck, I even remembered the first thing I ate at Hogwarts, some Ton Tongue Toffee that George had given me. He'd apparently thought that it would be amusing to play a trick on some unsuspecting first year. Bet he never expected that that same first year would end up his girlfriend. It was funny how things like that work ou-

"Hey," someone said, shaking me out of my thoughts. I recognized the voice immediately, so I wasn't the least bit surprised when Draco sat down across from me. I smiled at him before looking down at my plate. "Something wrong?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Not really. Just reminiscing about the good ol' days."


	4. Milala

~Milala's POV~

Later on after classes, Milala went to her secret spot. Ok, so maybe it was less of a secret hiding spot and more of a tree nobody really liked or went close to. She really didn't see what people didn't like about it. It had shade in the summer, was five feet from the water and nobody could see you from the other side. Milala loved that tree and usually went there when she wanted to be alone. She sat there for what seemed like an hour when someone said, "Hey."

She looked around, but didn't see anyone. A chuckling sound came from the branches above her, and Milala looked up to see Flint dangling from one of the branches. She smiled. "Hey yourself. What are you doing here?"

Flint dropped down beside Milala and put his arm around her. "Silly girl. Don't think I don't know where all your secret spots are," he said, causing Milala to raise her eyebrows at him.

"Oh really?" she scoffed and he nodded. She shook her head with a slanted smile on her face, and kissed him lightly on the lips. Then she rested her head on his chest, and looked out over orange tinted water of the lake at sunset. It was beautiful. Flint began playing with her hair, and Milala closed her eyes in contentment.

"Is anything wrong?" he asked, running his fingers through her brown hair that was tinted bronze with the setting sun's rays. Milala just shook her head, eyes still closed. "Something must be wrong," he said, moving on from playing with her hair to running his fingers down her cheeks. "You're never this quiet, and you never want to be alone. Please, just tell me."

Milala opened her eyes and faced him. "It's nothing. Really," she insisted, but she could tell from the look on Flints face that he wasn't buying it.

He sighed. "Milala, you promised me that if anything was bothering you, that you'd talk to me about it so that I could help you. If you don't tell me things then you'd be breaking your promise and this won't work." He took a breath and looked her in the eyes. "I want to help you. You know that. I love you."

She gazed into his eyes for a while, letting all that he'd said sink into her skin. "Nobody's….ever said that to me before," she said quietly, looking down. They sat there for a while, Milala becoming more and more agitated by the minute and Flint completely oblivious to her growing discomfort. After about ten minutes, Milala broke the silence.

"Flint," she said quietly. "This doesn't feel right. Us...together…it doesn't feel right. I really like you, but right now…I just can't do this." She was quiet for a minute before looking up at him. "Can we just be…friends?" Her voice had gotten soft and timid, like she was afraid he'd say no and storm off. Or worse, just continue sit there staring at her like he was now.


	5. Old Friends

Later that night, as she sat in the top room of the astronomy tower, Milala began to feel something that she hadn't felt in a long time. Freedom. She was, for all intents and purposes, without a guy. She was single. She was a spoon. When Milala had been at her old school, she'd ALWAYS seemed to be with someone. But the majority of the people she'd dated had been jerks, especially the one she'd been with before Flint.

Milala looked down at her knees which she had pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Even though she'd decided it was for the best, her break up with Flint got to her more than she wanted to admit. A single tear rolled its slow way down her cheek, as she dropped her head to her knees and sobbed.

Just then, the door to the room burst open with a loud 'BANG' as it hit the stone wall. Milala's head shot up, eyes darting to where the sound had come from. Three figures entered into the room in single file. One of them was her sister, Kilala, and the other two were people that Milala hadn't seen in an awfully long time. The corners of her mouth twitched up into the beginnings of a smile.

~Kilala's POV~

It was late. Very late and, like so many nights before, George and I were sprawled out on the grass by the lake. Doing what, you may ask? Snogging. What else. Yes, it was against the rules and yes if you ever got caught you'd both be strung up in the dungeon and hanging from the ceiling by your thumbs…but I didn't really give a rats ass about any of that. We were young and in love and we were going to enjoy it, damnit! But even as the stars above twinkled their brightest and the moons reflection shone brilliantly off of the glossy surface of the lake, something felt different. George seemed to feel it too, or at least noticed my lack of enthusiasm, and pulled back.

"Something wrong?" he asked, smiling at me. I shook my head slightly and smiled back at him, causing George to narrow his eyes and poke at my tummy. "Kilala…" he warned, and I giggled, pushing his hand away. George's eyes brightened. "Oh, so that TICKLES does it?" he asked, poking me over and over again.

I rolled over onto my side, trying to shield my belly with my hands, laughing. "Stop it, you know it does!" I cried out, looking back up at George as he stopped his poking. He was gazing down at me, brushing a stray piece of hair out of my face, and was just about to lean down to kiss me again when my eyes widened and he stopped. My gaze was fixed over his shoulder at two hooded figures who were slowly approaching. George followed my line of sight, and immediately turned around to face them, shielding me with his body.

"Who are you?" George demanded, but the hooded figures responded only with hushed chuckling from inside their robes. As they drew closer to us, I started trembling and George stiffened. Slowly, the figures reached up and pulled down their hoods to reveal their faces. They looked familiar somehow, though I knew I'd never met them before in my life. Then, it hit me.

"Sorry to have scared ya mate. We're"

"Gavin and St Jimmy!" George exclaimed.

"From the Falcons!" I said. It was pretty exciting to meet these two. They were, after all, wicked good quidditch players, but George did seem to be a tid bit more excited than I was.

The two of them smiled and nodded. "We're here to see Milala. Do you know where she is? This is the school she transferred to, isn't it?" I nodded and began to lead them across the lawn towards the castle.


	6. Why Do I Feel This Way?

It was late. Very late. As I sat up, I looked around and realized that I had been sleeping in the Great Hall. I was just beginning to wonder why that was, when I suddenly remembered that Pansy Parkinson had looked particularly pleased with herself about something at dinner. I also remembered my pumpkin pasty tasting a bit off too. I made an angry grunting noise as I picked myself up off of the floor, kicking myself for not putting two and two together in the first place.

Suddenly, I heard the unmistakable sound of someone arguing. A guy and a girl from the sounds of it, somewhere out in the corridors. I crept closer to the doors of the Great Hall and looked out. The room beyond was empty, so I silently slipped out.

The raised voices sounded like they were coming from one of the nearby hallways and, being the nosy lady that I am, I followed them. I was curious to find out what all the fuss was about.

It wasn't long until I came to a turn in the hallway, and the voices seemed to be coming from right around that corner. I stealthily slid along the wall and peered around the edge very carefully. I was a little bit shocked to see that the two people that were arguing were my sister and Draco.

"IT ISN'T ME, YOU MORON!" Milala yelled at Draco. She seemed to be a bit red in the face, and I could just about see steam coming from her ears. How long had they been arguing?

"I DON'T CARE! YOU'RE TWINS!" Draco yelled back, throwing his arms out and taking a step forward.

I frowned. What the hell was going on here? Acting purely on instinct, I stepped away from my hiding place, and strode over to stand next to my sister. "What's going on here?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. The two of them stared at me for a moment, startled that I'd walked in on their argument.

Draco was the one who recovered first. "None of your business, Taylor," he said with a sneer. "This has nothing to do with you, so why don't you just go the hell away."

I was surprised when a sharp jab pierced my chest. His words had hurt. But why? Since when did I care what Draco said to me? He was my friend, sure, but he'd said way worse things to me before and I hadn't cared then. So why did I care now? I shook my head, trying to clear my head, and fixed my eyes on his. "Well we may be twins, Draco," I said, my voice quiet and flat. "But we are much more different than you apparently think." I then turned on me heel, and stormed out of the corridor as fast as I could.

There was a dull 'thud' from behind me followed by a string of curses from Draco, and I guessed that my sister had stomped on his foot. She screamed something at him then. I probably could have heard what she'd said had I been listening, but I just didn't care anymore. Tears were beginning to well up behind my eyes and I was trying not to think about why that was. I kept walking, though there wasn't any stomp left in my step. A turn was coming up in the hallway I was in, and I decided I didn't want to go any further, so I slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor.

The tears that had been building up finally spilled over. I leaned my head back against the wall, and gazed up at the stone ceiling as my hands fiddled idly in my pokets. A sharp pain shot through one of the fingers on my right hand causing me to gasp. I drew my hand out of my pocket, and saw that there was a small gash on the pad of my index finder. Blood was slowly oozing from the wound and dripping down the side. I stared at my finger for a moment, and then carefully reached into my pocket to extract what had cut me. I drew out an x-acto knife and stared at it. The part of my mind that should have been wondering how it had gotten there in the first place, wasn't working correctly, if at all, because the thought never crossed my mind. I just continued to stare at the gleaming blade that still had a drop of my blood on the end where it had poked me.

"Don't," someone said, startling me and causing me to jump. I whipped my eyes with the backs of my hands before I looked up at the person who'd spoken. It was Flint.

"What?" I asked. I wasn't quite sure what he was talking about. "Don't do what?"

He gestured to the knife. "Don't."

I looked at the x-acto knife in my hand and at the blood on the blade and suddenly realized what Flint must have thought I'd been doing. I crossed my arms over my knees and looked up at him. "Why should I listen to you? It's not as if you care what happens to me."

Flint made a sigh-like sound. "You only care about yourself, don't you?" he asked, looking at me with what looked like pity. It made me want to gag.

"You know Flint, I actually do care about other people. But you wouldn't understand that, would you? Seeing as you never took the time to get to know me or anything."

Flint rolled his eyes and walked away. I made a rude gesture at his back before leaning back against the wall and closing my eyes. I was there for about ten minutes when I felt someone take the x-acto out of my hand. I sighed. "Flint, if that's you again I swear I'm going to punch you in the face." I opened my eyes and turned my head to find, not Flint, but Luna Lovegood sitting beside me. She gave me a half smile which I returned half-heartedly. "Luna, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing," she said airily. She looked at the knife she'd taken from me and I knew she had seen the bit of blood and had drawn the same conclusions that Flint had. She looked back at me. "Why do you do this to yourself?" she asked.

I pursed my lips. "It's not what it looks like, Luna," I said, but she didn't appear to have heard what I'd said. I looked away, and I felt her lean closer and sort of press her shoulder against mine.

"People care about you, you know." I looked back at her and she smiled at me again. I was about to say something when there was a SNAP and the air suddenly went cold. We both turned our heads this way and that, trying to figure out what had happened, when my eyes fell upon a figure shrouded in darkness.

"Luna, we should go," I said in a quiet, yet urgent voice.


End file.
